Worcestershire
lies in west-central England. In
1974 the new county of the West Midlands
was formed from part of the county together with parts of Staffordshire
and Warwickshire. The West Midlands has since been broken up into
smaller authorities. The same year Herefordshire and Worcestershire
were united into one county but have since regained their separate
county status.

The
small kingdom of the Hwicce lay between
the kingdoms of Mercia to the north and that of the West Saxons (Wessex)
to the south.

Areas of Outstanding
Natural Beauty

The
Malvern
Hills form a ridge running from north to south providing spectacular
uninterrupted views west into Wales and east over the Cotswolds.
The relatively small AONB is spread over three counties, with the
eastern party lying in Worcestershire. It includes a mixture landscapes
and it was this variety which was the main reason for its designation
as an AONB in 1959.

The
Cotswolds
stretch over six counties, with a small portion of their northern
end lying in Worcestershire. They became the country's largest AONB
on its creation in 1966. The area is distinctive due to the underlying
limestone rock which has created a unique landscape and habitat
for plants and animals.

Composers

Edward
Elgar was born at Lower
Broadheath in 1857. He died in Worcester in 1934 and was buried
at Little Malvern.

In 1265 Simon de Montfort
was killed at the Battle
of Evesham ending his rebellion.
He had ruled England since his capture of Henry
III at the Battle of Lewes the previous year. The battle
was part of the second of the Barons' Wars (1263-67), a struggle
by the powerful barons to define and therefore restrict the
power of the monarch, which would eventually lead to the foundations
of today's Parliament.

In
1650 the future Charles
II, son of the executed Charles I, landed in Scotland from
forced exile in France and proclaimed King by the Scots. The
following year his army marched south but were defeated at the
Battle
of Worcester by the Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell.

Charles managed to evade capture and fled back to France. Although
the defeat signalled the end of the English
Civil Wars
which had been fought on and off since 1642, the Royalist cause
would eventually be successful and Charles would ascend the
throne in 1660.Charles
II

In
1216, a year after signing the Magna Carta at Runnymede, King
Johnwas
buried in Worcester
Cathedral. The last of the three Angevin Kings from the
House of Plantagenet he had ruled England since 1199.

Stanley
Baldwin, three times Prime Minister in 1923-24, 1924-29 and 1935-37,
was born at Lower Park House in Bewdley in 1867. He died at his home
at Astley Hall near Stourport-on-Severn in 1947 and is buried at Worcester
Cathedral. His administrations saw the General Strike of 1926
and the abdication crisis of Edward
VIII ten years later but it was his handling of foreign affairs
which finally ended his premiership, when he was forced to resign
in 1937 for failing to foresee the threat of Nazi Germany.